The Mounties, in cooperation with Canada Post, said they have seized $1 million worth of drugs — and almost the same cash value of alcohol — en route to Nunavik, the Northern area of Quebec, according to Leafly.

In coordination with local police, the operation intercepted crack, cocaine, meth, hashish, cannabis flower and shatter after the drugs were ordered from the abundance of illicit mail-order websites littering the internet. The ability to use Canada Post to deliver drugs has been a game-changer for residents of the fly-in region that generally only receive supplies via expensive air transport.

“The goal of the operation is to reduce the trafficking of illegal substances destined to Nunavik communities,” said Kativik Regional Police chief Jean-Pierre Larose.

Drug regulation and enforcement is a tricky proposition in many Northern indigenous regions that feature large Inuit populations often dealing with the enduring effects of trauma and addiction.

FILE: Kuujjuaq, au Nunavik. (Groupe CNW/FRONT D’ACTION POPULAIRE EN REAMENAGEMENT URBAIN)

While Indigenous people have been found to generally drink less alcohol than non-natives, the levels of binge-drinking among those who do use have prompted some communities to go alcohol-free as a remedy. It has also made many areas skeptical of cannabis legalization.

So while legal products from SQDC, Quebec’s online cannabis retailer, are allowed, illegal marijuana is strictly forbidden. But with price often being the deciding factor in Nunavik, residents are increasingly turning to the black market to meet their needs.

Disappointed adults who were met with empty mailboxes will not have to worry about police knocking on their doors, however. With Canada Post generally unable to definitively determine the sender and intended recipient of illegal substances, criminal charges will not be laid.

Quebec is among the top three provinces in sales of legal marijuana, along with Ontario and Alberta, despite the fact that SQDC prices are 20 percent below the national average. Correcting for the difference, the province could well be number one, said Jean-François Bergeron, president and CEO of SQDC.

While legal products from SQDC are allowed, illegal marijuana is strictly forbidden. / Photo: Pierre Obendrauf Pierre Obendrauf / Montreal Gazette files

The province sold 8,641 kg of cannabis in the second quarter of 2019, the SQDC noted, with the average price of a gram being sold for $8.39. “Competing against the black market is a challenge, period,” Bergeron said. “But we will get there.”